Michele Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Just thinking about the expected inflation and the expected rise in the cost of sugar, I became curious to know if anyone has ever found a Skittles look- & taste-a-like? If so, what did you think of it? Did you try to vend it? How'd it do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurtsman Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Skittles are one of the lowest CoG candies we have access to. Relatively long shelf life also. The solution will be shrinking vend sizes or raising prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dperry Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I once used a look-a-like for M&Ms. I had used Sixlets. They did horribly. I imaging that look-a-likes for Skittles would not do well either. The main reason that some candies do so well is that there is some name brand recognition. Most people may not know a thing about the cheaper candy, and may not want to try it. Besides, a rising tide floats all boats. If the cost of sugar goes up for skittles, its sure to go up for the lesser brand candies too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Snacks Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Consider the Runts as an alternative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogersmith Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I'm dispensing 12-13 Skittles and am considering going down to an 8-9 dispense for the Skittles (which is the next increment down on the candy wheel), but it looks a little chintzy when I put 8-9 of them in my hand. Does anyone dispense 8-9 skittles? Is that too few? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treadmill Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I'm dispensing 12-13 Skittles and am considering going down to an 8-9 dispense for the Skittles (which is the next increment down on the candy wheel), but it looks a little chintzy when I put 8-9 of them in my hand. Does anyone dispense 8-9 skittles? Is that too few? 12-13 that's the correct amount per vend. Just thinking about the expected inflation and the expected rise in the cost of sugar, I became curious to know if anyone has ever found a Skittles look- & taste-a-like? If so, what did you think of it? Did you try to vend it? How'd it do? I think you are overthinking this. I wouldn't worry about it until it happens. When it does happen, you have two choices, either reduce piece count per vend or go with another candy or look alike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donovon Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 12-13 that's the correct amount per vend. I think you are overthinking this. I wouldn't worry about it until it happens. When it does happen, you have two choices, either reduce piece count per vend or go with another candy or look alike. One more choice would be to upgrade .25 mech to .50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treadmill Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 One more choice would be to upgrade .25 mech to .50 That would work too. Then you could go 1 setting higher 16-18 pieces per vend until you need to come back down again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogersmith Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 That would work too. Then you could go 1 setting higher 16-18 pieces per vend until you need to come back down again. I'm not sure that anyone would pay 0.50 cents for 12-13 or 16-18 Skittles anytime soon, inflation or not. I would think that people would just look at the price before even knowing what the dispense count was and either decide they were willing to pay 0.50 cents or not. I would think that the ability to sell candy (rather than toys) at 0.50 cents irrespective of dispense count (though you would need to give a higher dispense if you were going to do it) will be the question if/when inflation comes with a vengeance. I find that while Skittles are a best seller and while their price per pound is not bad, their cost per dispense at 12-13 (given their relatively lower count per pound), is higher than the .05 cent cost per dispense that I try to maintain with my other offerings. However, since people want brand names and I don't even know of any generic for skittles candy, I think I'm stuck with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerformaVending Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Another consideration, especially in this matter, is competition. If you have the spot all to yourself, you can experiment all you like with various off brands, vend sizes, and mech options. However, competitors may very well take on a 50 cent machine head to head. Most people would rather slug one quarter and get a quick impulse snack, whereas 50 cents is more of an investment. You can say the vend is larger, but unless the same people are using the machine consistently, vend size isn't going to be considered very much, if at all. Other vendors will try and leech off of you at your hot spots- I've had it done to me lots of times. It will take time for everyone to get on board, but vending has gone from 1 cent to 25 for candy in 50 years, so 50 cents is bound to come sooner than later. If inflation brings skittles up, I'll decrease vend sizes. If it gets bad, it'll probably be the thing to kick me out of candy and into toys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Snacks Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 I had been doing 10-11 Skittles per quarter (the lowest setting on the NW wheel) and never had a complaint. But I switched over to Runts last year for all "sweet" candy offerings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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